(09-03-2020, 11:00 PM)JagJohn Wrote: Here we are, one week away from the start of the regular season, and it seems like a good point to assess where this franchise stands right now. (Although, with the rate the Jags are making headlines this week this will probably all be obsolete by the time our first game arrives).

The Good: (and I understand most people are not remotely interested in hearing the good right now)

- The future could be bright. Obviously, this depends on how the FO handles things (which is a big doubt)... but we are in a position where we have some good young talent on the roster, and we are loaded with draft picks for next year. This is a key moment in Jags history, a legitimate opportunity to turn things around. We are entering a season where the young players on our roster are going to get a chance to shine, and we will have an opportunity to add to them via our massive draft capital and salary cap room next year. If managed right, there is huge potential for a team to be built correctly that can challenge for a long time to come.
- The offense could be better than expected this year. Maybe I'm being a fool, but a big part of me does believe that our offense will surprise people this year. In all the craziness of this offseason, I honestly don't see how our offense is going to be worse than it was last year. The o-line should benefit from renewed health and continuity, the QB who went .500 last year has more experience, the WRs are the best position group on the team, Eifert and James O should be reliable options at TE... and I personally believe that RB is not going to be a huge downgrade with no Lenny... he just doesn't fit the offense, and I like the potential of our young guys to fill his shoes. I'm not claiming we are gonna be a top 10 offense, but I do think that a lot of people are expecting a disaster on offense, and it won't be anything of the sort, barring key injuries.

The Bad:

- 6-10 seems like an optimistic prediction right now. Even with the offense being better than expected, this team as a whole is woefully short of top talent. And the talent that it does have is very young. Put all that together and it rarely, if ever, leads to success. I envision something similar to the 2015 season when Bortles threw 35 TDs, we had impressive young players at WR, and the team still went 5-11.
- The defense could be horrible. We lack talent at almost every position on this defense. Especially in the secondary. And where we do have talent, they are mostly first or second year players. I am confident in saying that we are going to struggle massively on defense this year.

The Ugly:

- Players seem to hate the idea of the Jaguars. I don't know what the hell has happened to this team in the last 3 years, but we are in a position where it seems like our own players want out, and other players across the league are looking down on us. It truly is embarassing to be so damn close to making a superbowl in 2017, to being the laughing stock of the league in 2020. This needs to change.
- There is no way that Doug and Dave still deserve to be shaping the future of this team. Now this is a bit of a tricky point for me, because, unlike most on here, I actually agree with almost all of the moves that have been made this offseason. I'm delighted they have put this team in a position where they are set up for the future, and I never believed we would be close to competing for a superbowl even if we had kept Calais, Yannick, Lenny, etc. But Caldwell and Marrone should have gone at the end of last year. All their talk about trying to change the culture is for nothing because, whether it was their fault or not (thanks Tom), they were still part of the former culture that has poisoned this team, and the results for both speak for themselves. They shouldn't be given the opportunity to fix something that they have to take some of the blame for creating.

Ultimately, I believe we will finish somewhere around 5 wins this season. I think several good players for the future to build around will emerge. I also think more problems with the Jags' "culture" will come to light. I think this will be enough for Doug and Dave to both be sent packing. A new coach and GM pairing will have a wonderful opportunity to shape this team to truly be competitive for a long time. I hope they make good decisions.

I post this for two reasons:

1. To give props to the OP for being right on the money. You da man.

2. To remind everyone that, while losing sucks, the reasons to be hopeful about the future of this team remain the same as they were before the season. Yes we suck now, and it hurts more because the [BLEEP] raised our expectations with the first game, but the future is still bright. There are a bunch of young players emerging, even if as a whole we are woefully lacking. Cap space and draft picks will go a long way to shore up the crappy parts of this roster. And Dave and Doug are gonna be gone.

Life is misery, but the future remains bright.

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